


Yes

by tibeyg



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Australia, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bottom Arthur, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Equality, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Queer Themes, Rainbows and Happiness, Socks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-02-02 23:14:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12736278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tibeyg/pseuds/tibeyg
Summary: When Australia votes Yes for marriage equality, Arthur celebrates gayness with his boyfriend.





	Yes

**Author's Note:**

> On November 15, 2017, Australia voted YES for same-sex marriage in a non-binding, non-compulsory survey with an overwhelming majority. This fic is a celebration of that.
> 
> It's also the Bottom Arthur fest this week, a concept of which I am an ideological proponent. Exciting!
> 
> Both Arthur and Merlin are seventeen, which is over the age of consent in Australia.

Arthur finds out at the beginning of second period Modern History, because Mr Monmouth is playing a livestream of ABC News on the SmartBoard.

‘This is going to be a modern, historic event,’ he tells them as a sort of justification. And as much as Arthur wants to keep on learning about Communist China, he’s glad Monmouth is on board with letting him get married legally in this country, and that he going to get the news firsthand, and he’s even gladder when the results confirm everything he’s been anticipating.

Everyone in class lets out a huge cheer when the majority Yes is announced. Arthur’s grinning so hard the corners of his mouth hurt, and he can hear similar whoops of delight down the hallway of B-Block. Elyan pulls him into a manly, one-armed hug and ruffles his hair. ‘When’re you gonna get hitched, then?’ he asks jokingly as Arthur laughs. A couple of the other lads who know about him and Merlin thump him on the back in solidarity. 

Everyone’s in a great mood afterwards. When Monmouth returns to Mao Zedong, there’s a little smile lurking in his flossy beard. Arthur prods out a text to Merlin as surreptitiously as he can.

_it’s a yes!_

Merlin’s probably slaving away at 3D Trig or something in Extension Maths right now, but he replies pretty promptly. 

_only heard about half the school scream abt it lol_

Then he adds, _pretty fckn great tho rite???_ and a ton of heart and rainbow flag emojis. Arthur’s smile stretches wider, and when the lesson ends, he really can’t remember anything about the Long March.

The atmosphere in the corridors is jubilant. Someone’s draped a pride flag down a bannister. He and Elyan burst out into the brisk sunshine, squinting. The Safe Schools Club has set up a little stall in the quad, with ribbons of rainbow crepe paper curling out into the breeze. A few of the members are handing out little rainbow stickers. They collect a couple as they traipse past on their way down to their patch on the Senior Lawn.

All the lads are there already. Merlin’s there too. Arthur’s heart sighs. He’s reapplying his sunscreen, and hasn’t noticed them approach, but Lance nudges his shoulder and he looks up and smiles and smiles and smiles, surging up off the grass. He practically knocks Arthur over, then smacks a kiss on his mouth right there, right in front of the whole school. It’s a surprise for Arthur – they’re usually a lot more lowkey than this. They separate to the sound of the rest of the lads wolf-whistling and telling them to get a room.

‘Today is a fantastic day to be gay,’ says Arthur. ‘I’ve got a ridiculous boyfriend and sixty percent of the country thinks I can have equal rights too.’

‘Shut up, you weirdo,’ says Merlin. His eyes are crinkling with laughter. ‘I bought some Coles cookies for us to celebrate.’

He unearths them from his bag, and they all tuck in. Arthur gets self-conscious about eating fatty food – he gains weight easily, unlike noodly Merlin, and he can’t be out of shape with footy to think about – but he snaffles them up eagerly. They taste like victory.

‘Say, Merlin,’ says Percy, spraying chocolate chip crumbs, ‘you couldn’t’ve gotten more rainbow snacks?’

‘You could’ve made fairy bread,’ Gwaine says. He’s wearing a rainbow sticker in the middle of his forehead, and a few strands of his fringe are trapped between his skin and the adhesive. Then he snorts. ‘Haha, geddit? Like fairy –’

‘Shut up, you wanker,’ Merlin groans around a bite. ‘Eat your fucking cookie and be grateful.’

The bell rings again, way too soon, and Arthur lingers behind to help Merlin pack up the rubbish as the others muddle off to class. He won’t see Merlin at lunch, because he has his nerdy Coding Club on, but they both have a free last period.

‘You’re coming over to mine afterwards, right?’ says Merlin. There’s a cheeky glint in his eye. ‘For a little… _celebration_ , yeah?’

‘Wouldn’t miss it for anything.’ Arthur leans in to press a kiss to his cheek. ‘Meet you outside the front office, yeah?’

‘Yeah.’

And with a well-aimed pat to Arthur’s arse, his lanky form jaunts off towards E-Block. Arthur rubs his tingling arse cheek, and his heart feels a little warm.

*

Arthur got his red Ps two months ago, so he and Merlin wend through the streets to get to his dad’s old Holden after their final classes. The streets are empty because school hasn’t ended yet for the other students, and the pavements are patterned with the dappled shadows of the eucalypts above. They come across four carpets of fallen jacaranda flowers, neon-bright against the asphalt, before they get to the car. Merlin holds Arthur’s hand with one hand, and a chunky Maths textbook with the other. Arthur swings their hands; he’s feeling a bit giddy. Might be the pollen.

When they get in the car, a bit toasty from sitting in the sun all day, Merlin practically climbs into Arthur’s lap to kiss him.

‘Merl– _Merlin_ ,’ Arthur moans into his mouth. ‘Can we get to your house first?’

Merlin eases off a bit and looks at him, really intense. It’s a bit hard to concentrate when he’s like this, all handsome and earnest, with his mouth slightly puffy with kisses. Then he clambers off Arthur and straps himself in.

‘Then you’d better hurry.’

Then he gives Arthur’s crotch a cheeky little squeeze just as he signals right to turn out onto the street. Arthur swears. It’s going to be a long drive.

*

It’s not that long. Thank God. Arthur parks messily beside the kerb and they tumble out of the car, practically sprinting to get inside. Merlin lives in a sweet little suburban house with his mum and uncle who, thank God, are at work right now. Neither of them know that Arthur had levelled up from mate to boyfriend approximately three months ago, but to be fair, neither does Arthur’s dad. Neither of them had quite known how to broach the topic, so they’d just left off doing it.

Arthur’s kinda glad for it as they skid through the kitchen, past the pet lizard Kilgarrah’s tank, down the hallway into Merlin’s room. He’s not sure how Merlin’s mum would feel about him being around so regularly if she knew they were boning. It’d be a bit awkward. 

Merlin dumps his bag beside the door and kicks his shoes off beside them. Arthur closes the door and shrugs his bag off with a little less violence. Merlin’s pushing over his covers and rooting around his sock drawer for their stashed supply of condoms and lube (purchased furtively in bulk off the Internet on Arthur’s debit card during the last term break, and delivered in an unmarked box which he’d whisked up to his room the second it had arrived), his butt waving in the air, when Arthur shuffles over to sit on the edge of the mattress.

It’s not like they haven’t done this before, but they haven’t done it a _lot_ , either. But when Merlin resurfaces pink-cheeked, condom box in one hand and half-empty bottle of lube in the other, it’s easy.

It’s easy to lean in and kiss him, to undo the buttons of his school shirt and untuck it so he can feel the planes of Merlin’s pale torso. Merlin shucks off the grey uniform slacks, and gets on top of Arthur so he can pull off his clothes too. 

Arthur flips them back over once he pulls Merlin’s boxers over one foot. He has to get his mouth on Merlin’s dick, leaking hard and flushed on his belly in the way only a hale and healthy teenager’s can. He rolls a condom down it, tries ineffectually to wipe the lubricant off, and sinks his mouth down on it. Merlin’s breathless giggling turns more breathless than giggling.

It’s sloppy, as all inexperienced blowjobs are wont to be. Arthur still hasn’t quite managed to get his gag reflex to obey him, and when he’s not choking on his toothbrush in the morning, he’s choking on his boyfriend’s dick. Albeit a very, very lovely dick, and Arthur’s quite fond of it. All skinny and long, like Merlin’s limbs. He could sit on it all day. But now he’s sucking on it, tasting the icky latex and feeling the warmth of erection blood on his tongue, his teeth are getting in the way and Merlin’s got his hands on his face, making these _oh, oh!_ sounds, hips twitching upwards to make Arthur’s vision glitter and spit seep out of the corners of his mouth, and then –

‘Hey, hey, turn around,’ says Merlin, pulling Arthur’s face off. ‘I want to suck you off too. At the same time?’

Arthur folds his lips inwards and bites them to keep himself from moaning, and hurries to comply. And then they’re 69ing on Merlin’s rickety little bed – 69ing! For the first time! Fuck, it’s so hot – and Merlin’s boxers are still there, hanging off one stockinged foot because they’ve both forgotten to take their socks off, and it’s all Arthur can do to not slam his hips down against Merlin’s face and come and come and come, because the double sensation of sucking a dick and getting his sucked at the same time is just too much, it’s just _too much_ for one horny seventeen-year-old to handle, and Merlin’s hands are creeping up to knead his arse and pull the cheeks apart, and Arthur’s eyes are rolling back into his head as he moans around the dick in his mouth…

Merlin spasms. Arthur splutters. There’s a lot of loud moaning and coughing as Arthur jerks instinctively back from the twitching dick and watches through his tears in fascination as the little pouch of latex at its tip fills with white. 

‘Oh yeah,’ breathes Merlin, sounding cheesily fucked out. His hands flop uselessly off Arthur’s butt to his sides as he languishes in his post-orgasmic glow.

‘C’mon, you dickhead, I’ve still gotta come,’ Arthur whines, shuffling back around to butt his face against Merlin’s. Merlin bats him away lazily.

Arthur ends up with his knees on either side of Merlin’s face, probably pinning clumps of his hair to the mattress, but Merlin doesn’t complain as he sucks lazily on Arthur and rubs his fingers over Arthur’s arsehole until he comes too. 

Merlin’s even more useless than usual after that. He smiles dopily against his pillows, squinting through the sunlight from outside as Arthur shucks off their condoms and buries them beneath the tissues, then tugs and tucks Arthur against himself.

‘Happy marriage equality day,’ he says against Arthur’s temple.

‘It’s still not legalised yet,’ Arthur reminds him. The initial euphoria of the announcement has worn a bit. ‘Fuck knows if Malcolm’s gonna finally grow a spine and get it done.’

Merlin snorts. ‘You’re such a grumpypants.’

‘I’m being _realistic_ –’

‘Yeah, but most people in our country think us gays have the right to get married! That’s worth getting excited about.’

‘Yeah, you’re right.’

‘When am I ever not?’

‘Frequently.’ But Arthur’s grinning back at him. Fuck, he’s so pretty. Sprawled like this in the sunlight, all nice and naked; he looks really suave and manly with all that coarse black hair smattered across his chest and stomach and crotch and legs and arms and…

‘Watcha looking at?’ Merlin hoists up an eyebrow, looking like he’s suppressing a smile.

‘ _Nothing_ ,’ says Arthur. He turns away to hide the flush rising up his face, bending over Merlin’s legs to fumble for his trousers on the floor, then fumble for his phone in the pocket, and hooking it up to Merlin’s speakers.

‘What’s this?’ says Merlin as a rollicking drumbeat pounds out. ‘Suede? Is this your gay playlist, you cheesy…’

Arthur allows himself to be tackled him back into bed, grinning. Merlin kisses him, at first lasciviously with a lot of unnecessary tongue and smiling teeth, then in earnest as he hardens up again, against Arthur’s thighs.

‘Oh, Arthur,’ he says. ‘Let me fuck you.’

‘Yeah, go on,’ says Arthur.

He makes Arthur lie on his stomach, because it’s still novel for him to see his fingers disappear inside Arthur’s arse. Arthur complies willingly, mushing his face into the Merlin-scented pillows and willing his body to relax, _relax_ , as Merlin squirts out the lube onto his arsehole – cold! cold! – and rubs his fingers over it in circles. 

‘I’m going in,’ says Merlin breathlessly, like he thinks he’s in a spy movie and not just about to finger his boyfriend.

And then it’s the slippery, inexorable press inside, that still-novel sensation of his hole being held apart and Arthur can’t help it, he calls out and feels himself spasm around the finger as it pumps gently and Merlin rubs his back and exhorts him to ‘relax, Arthur, relax,’ and then he feels it prod around, slide in a centimetre deeper and touch _that, there_ , and then he’s blissed out, slumping mindlessly back into the pillows as Merlin feeds his obedient arsehole fingers and lube until he’s sloppy and dripping with it, with each press of Merlin’s fingers eking a slick little sound from his arse.

‘You good?’ asks Merlin. His voice sounds shaky.

‘Yeah,’ says Arthur through his daze. He feels like he’s come, like, fifty times already. Fuck, he loves getting his arse pampered by Merlin. ‘Get on with it, mate.’

‘You’re such a diva,’ Merlin harrumphs, but then he hears the crinkle of a condom wrapper and Merlin’s rolling one down himself and Arthur (so Merlin’s mum won’t see the stains), and Merlin’s kicking apart his knees and wedging a thumb on either side of his arsehole to keep it open and then there’s a blunt pressure against it and then – and then! – it’s just the glorious slide of miles and miles and miles of dick.

Shit, it feels so good. Arthur squeezes experimentally, and Merlin gives an answering moan. 

‘I’ll never get tired of this,’ says Merlin. His voice is pitched deeper now, breathier, and it’s really hot. ‘Seeing your arse eat up my cock like it was born for…fucking _sodomy_ or whatever. God. Fuck.’

‘Oh my God, Merlin. Fucking _move_.’

He goes slow at first, and Arthur knows he’s doing it to be a pest so he squeezes his arse a bit until Merlin swears and speeds up, pumping his hips hard against Arthur’s arse in time with the music. Then he stops completely on an upstroke, leaving just the tip inside, and Arthur whines in frustration until a sharp _smack_ lands on his right arse cheek.

‘Fuck, look at you _jiggle_ ,’ says Merlin, in awe.

Arthur pulls himself off Merlin’s dick and flips over. ‘Fuck me like this,’ he urges, drawing up his knees. ‘Come on, just fuck me.’

Merlin, for once in his life, does as he’s told. He knee-walks into position, pushing up Arthur’s thighs until he’s in the perfect position for a dick to get pushed inside. And shit, it feels amazing, that rub and slide inside and Merlin gasping and panting above him, just really going to town on his arse. Arthur’s bent up way too awkwardly for them to make out, so Arthur just lets his face turn to the side and moans out his pleasure.

He comes first, after Merlin changes the angle and finds his prostate again. His reaction – squeezing and gasping out and digging his fingernails into Merlin’s bony arse – makes it embarrassingly obvious, and Merlin grinds mercilessly into it whilst stroking Arthur off. It’s more than his teenage stamina can handle as everything blacks out for a bit and shakes apart. Merlin keeps fucking him through it, and it gets a bit ouchy as he comes down, but then Merlin’s choking out his orgasm too, and then it’s all rainbows and smooches as they tuck in and cuddle up.

Somehow, they must’ve fallen asleep, because Arthur jolts awake to the universally unmistakable rattle of a garage door opening. The music’s not playing any more, it’s still light outside, and a quick glance at his watch tells him it’s nearly five. He bolts out of bed starkers, and begins pulling his uniform back on.

‘ _Merlin_!’ he hisses, shaking him on the shoulder. Merlin cracks open an eye, registers the garage door sound, and scrambles from under the blanket.

They flurry around the room, straightening the covers, buttoning up, flinging open the windows, spritzing the room with deo. By the time a shuffling step taps into the kitchen, they’re innocently sprawled on the ground with notebooks and pens scattered between them.

Then Merlin gives him a cheeky wink, and Arthur becomes hyperconscious of the fact that his arsehole is still loose and wet with lube.

But then Merlin’s uncle is peering in around the doorframe good-naturedly, and they have to say hi like they’re just a couple of mates who have definitely not been having anal sex an hour ago.

‘Thought I saw your car outside, Arthur,’ says Merlin’s uncle. ‘Your parking looks like it’s gotten worse!’ He chuckles.

Arthur laughs along. He has no idea how to respond to that.

‘Anyway, Merlin, I’m making some congee tonight. One of the new colleagues gave me a recipe. I think it will be very tasty.’ He turns to Arthur. ‘Would you like to stay for dinner?’

Arthur has no idea what the fuck congee is, but Merlin’s looking at him with big, pleading eyes, and then he finds himself WhatsApping his dad to tell him that he’ll be coming home late today.

So it happens when they’re sampling Merlin’s uncle’s congee, seated around the kitchen table and trying hard not to let slip how watery and gross they think it tastes. Just as Merlin’s mum sidles off to the pantry and returns bearing soy sauce, the TV starts broadcasting the six o’clock news and fluttering rainbows are plastered all over the screen.

‘Isn’t that so lovely to hear!’ says Merlin’s mum. ‘What a fantastic result!’

‘Yes, it is indeed,’ says Merlin’s uncle, slurping his congee with gusto. ‘Can’t wait to finally get this debacle over and done with.’

‘Mum, Uncle Gaius?’ says Merlin. ‘I’m gay.’

There’s a brief pause as they all turn to regard him in surprise. Even Arthur, who is well acquainted with Merlin’s gayness, is a bit surprised.

‘Oh, well, dear!’ says his mum. ‘Thanks for telling us.’ She’s smiling, and she looks really proud. She puts down the soy sauce to go over to hug him.

Merlin’s uncle is beaming too. ‘The future’s looking brighter for you already.’

‘Arthur’s my boyfriend,’ Merlin blurts. Two pairs of adult eyes swivel around to survey Arthur just as he reaches for the soy sauce. He smiles awkwardly, feeling put on the spot as embarrassment spots his cheeks.

‘Oh, come over here!’ says Merlin’s mum, and she enfolds Arthur in a hug as well. It’s supremely nice of her, but a tad awkward too. But when she pulls back, he’s grinning too. Merlin reaches across the table to hold his hand, and he gives it a squeeze in return. The euphoria from earlier in the day is seeping back into his veins.

‘I’m glad for you boys,’ says Merlin’s mum when she’s finally finished cooing over them and plying them with questions. ‘You’ve always been there for each other. Who else, honestly?’

Arthur looks into Merlin’s mirth-crinkled eyes, and in that brief moment, he feels the future spasm. And even though he’s just seventeen, and they’ve only been dating for three months, and same-sex marriage hasn’t even been legalised yet in this country, he thinks _yeah, I could marry this bloke one day_. So he echoes, ‘Who else?’

**Author's Note:**

> I discovered that I was queer while I was still in high school, and wanted to relive that young fresh gayness, unjaded by discrimination, in Arthur and Merlin to celebrate yesterday's result. My self-discovery was lonely and anguished, but today signals a better Australia to come for the next generation of queers. Here's to the future, where queer kids are assured of society's support for them and have no fear in coming out.
> 
> Malcolm is Malcolm Turnbull, our prime minister. We tend to refer to politicians by first name.
> 
> If you like the enemies-to-lovers trope then check out [my gf's gay novel](http://valeaida.tumblr.com/post/149576789996/an-elegy-info-post), illustrated by me!


End file.
